KUCHING: Most young Dayak graduates find it too expensive and beyond their repayment ability to buy a house in Sarawak, according to a survey done by the Sarawak Dayak Graduates Association (SDGA).
Its president Gary Ningkan said this was based on the association’s recent registration of almost 1,000 Dayak graduates below 40 years of age.
“About 60 per cent of them could not afford to own a residential property yet,” he said.
“We really hope there will be special allocation for young Malaysians to be able to purchase their first home whether it is in terms of added subsidy, or providing more affordable houses for first time home buyers.”
Speaking to the New Sarawak Tribune, Gary said it is expected that there will be greater allocation for the state under the Budget 2023.
Sarawak, he said, needs more allocation to enhance its connectivity, which will also ensure Sarawak can become a developed region by 2030.
“In fact Sarawak should be getting the most amount for infrastructure development considering the size of our region,” he said.
Apart from that, SDGA hoped that a special fund would be allocated to the Dayak community in Sarawak similar to the RM305 million allocation provided for the Orang Asli community in the previous budget, for social assistance programmes, upgrading living standards and Orang Asli Integrated Village Development.
Gary said the Dayak community in Sarawak need more assistance to ensure the younger generations get to further their studies, to help improve their livelihood economically and physically as many are still living in dilapidated homes.
He said the special allocation may also look into assisting the Dayak community to get fire insurance for longhouses as many are at risk of fire.
“We also hope to see all schools in rural Sarawak having good facilities to accommodate science subjects.
“Most Dayak students in rural areas are not in science stream classes and one of the reasons is due to lack of proper facilities,” he added.
